MSHA Curriculum

MSHA students entering the program will be required to complete 36 semester hours with passing grades and a cumulative GPA of 2.7 or better to meet degree requirements. They will include 30 hours of core class requirements and 6 hours of elective courses. HPHA 5314, Healthcare Administration Capstone, should be taken in the student’s last term.

• HPHA 5302 Medical Sociology (3:6:0,O)

  This course provides an introduction to central topics in the sociology of medicine, health, and illness. Topics include but are not limited to: epidemiology, history of medicine in the West, public health, the social stratification of illness, the medical profession, and health care provision, access and delivery. In exploring these topics, emphasis will be placed on how socio-economic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, race, and financial status affect health care.

• HPHA 5305 Principles of Management & Leadership in Healthcare (3:6:0,O)

  The emphasis of this course is on understanding the principles of management and leadership theory and application in health organizations. Topics include personality assessments, leadership competencies and skills, leadership models, outcomes measurement, and ethics in health leadership. Key concepts of management including planning, organizing, decision making, motivation, and communication will be addressed.

• HPHA 5306 Healthcare Delivery System (3:6:0,O)

  This course provides an introduction to healthcare services, offering students an overview of the U.S. healthcare delivery system and the important components of the system. The course will examine the healthcare delivery system broadly and explore contemporary issues affecting the institutions that provide healthcare and are designed to protect the health of the American public. The course will cover the historical development of the U.S. healthcare system, the changing roles of healthcare providers, major health programs, determinants of health, disparities in health, and healthcare finance. The goal of the course is to provide students with the necessary skills to be effective participants in efforts to improve the U.S. healthcare system.

• HPHA 5307 Human Resources Management in Healthcare (3:6:0,O)

  This course introduces students to the principles of managing human resources in healthcare organizations. Concepts presented include supervision, teamwork, recruitment and selection, performance management and evaluation, compensation and benefits, motivation, training and development, and employment and labor law. Students will learn effective methods of strategically managing human resources and incorporating these within the overall strategic plan of the organization.

• HPHA 5309 Healthcare Research Methods and Statistics (3:3:0,O)

  This course will provide a broad framework for understanding and applying commonly used research methodologies and data analysis techniques in healthcare management. The course will review quantitative and qualitative research, research design, and methodology. Basic concepts of interpretation and application of statistics such as types of distributions, concepts of significance testing, and introduction of basic descriptive and inferential statistics are included. The goals are to prepare students to design, analyze, interpret, report, and critically evaluate research.

• HPHA 5310 Health Law and Ethics (3:6:0,O)

  This course provides an overview of legal, regulatory, and ethical issues in healthcare. Topics include patient consent, privacy, confidentiality, torts, contract law, corporate liability, malpractice, antitrust, fraud and abuse, and key federal regulations. Students will analyze and discuss legal and ethical considerations in providing health services and learn to apply these considerations in decision making as a healthcare administrator.

• HPHA 5311 Healthcare Finance (3:3:0,O)

  This course introduces students to the core concepts of financial management in healthcare, including interpretation of financial reports, financial ratio analysis, cost and profit analysis, planning and budgeting, time value analysis, financing, investments, capital budgeting, and current accounts management. The purpose of this class is to assist the student in developing the necessary analytical ability, attitudes, and decision making skills required of a healthcare manager in a changing environment.

• HPHA 5312 Strategic Planning & Marketing in Healthcare (3:6:0,O)

  The purpose of this class is to integrate key aspects of strategic planning and marketing in healthcare. The class examines strategic planning techniques, concepts, and practices, as well as leadership responsibilities regarding the creation of mission, vision, goals, and objective statements. The course integrates marketing with strategic planning such that the key elements of marketing and the complementary roles of public relations, advertising and sales are captured in the organizational analysis.

• HPHA 5313 Healthcare Economics and Policy (3:6:0,O)

  The course introduces the concepts of economic theory and analysis within the health services industry focusing on healthcare consumption, supply and demand, healthcare resource allocation, and the impact of health policy on the delivery of healthcare in the U.S.

• HPHA 5314 Healthcare Administration Capstone (3:3:0,O)

  This course provides students the opportunity to integrate and apply key competencies and skills learned in the MSHA program to a healthcare setting. MSHA students will work with the course instructor to develop and structure a project to be completed over the course of a semester. This final project will allow the student to demonstrate the ability to analyze and propose solutions to healthcare issues, as well as to exhibit proficiency in business writing, research, and project development and implementation skills common among senior healthcare executives. Prerequisite: This course may only be taken in the student's last semester of the program. Students must have approval from the Program Director in order to register for this course.

• HPHA 5318 Organizational Behavior in Healthcare (3:6:0,O)

  The purpose of this course is to help students gain an appreciation of the theory of organizations and how this theory shapes the way healthcare administrators come to think about their administrative responsibilities and the range of options available to them through the literature. Understanding the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups in healthcare organizations will also be emphasized. Students will learn about organizational strategy that draws from and integrates a number of disciplines, including organization theory, finance, planning, and marketing. Course concepts will be applied in a series of cases.

• HPHA 5320 Health Insurance and Reimbursement (3:6:0,O)

  This course provides an overview of health insurance, including public and private payers, self-funded insurance, managed care, health insurance markets, and policy changes that impact these areas. In addition, the course will cover healthcare payment systems and reimbursement methods of various payers in the health services marketplace.

• HPHA 5321 Healthcare Operations & Supply Chain Management (3:6:0,O)

  This course examines operational issues in healthcare management. Healthcare operations topics include systems analysis, forecasting, facility location and design models, decision analysis techniques, inventory control, CQI and statistical quality control. The course also integrates key components of supply chain management, including strategic sourcing and purchasing, acquisition, logistics, inventory management, and point of use applications, providing understanding, knowledge and evaluation models to operate and manage an organization's enterprise resource planning and management system.

• HPHA 5322 Quality, Patient Safety, & Risk Management (3:6:0,O)

  This course introduces the concepts of health care risk and quality management and how these domains go hand in hand with patient safety. Class work addresses the major elements of risk management program including claims management, risk financing, risk reduction, and emergency preparedness. A "systems" approach to health care quality is provided including performance improvement methodologies, tools and strategic initiatives to address continuous quality improvement. Appropriate standards, laws, and regulatory requirements are covered with special emphasis on compliance with Joint Commission accreditation.

• HPHA 5323 Healthcare Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship (3:6:0,O)

  This course will explore the evolving world of healthcare innovation from a business perspective to include the entrepreneurial side of human health advancements. Technology is an institutional imperative driving innovation through value-chain optimization and strategic convergence and/or divergence across all sub-sectors within healthcare, including sectors such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and health informatics. The course will evaluate the entrepreneurial process, strategic thinking and new venture exploration while focusing on rapid growth and technological implementation and close considerations within the healthcare sector.

• HPHA 5324 Health Systems Engineering (3:3:0,O)

  This course examines healthcare operations from a systems perspective. Systems modeling and system design concepts will be considered in the design and operationof healthcare systems. Key healthcare systems that focus on patient flow, patient safety, capacity planning, inventory management and supply chain management, and staffing are considered. In designing and operating healthcare facilities it is also important to consider how different parts of the system interact with one another and to consider how changes made to one part of a system can have unintended consequences on other parts of the system. This course also considers key aspects of change management and challenges of implementing process improvement.

• HPHA 5325 Long Term Care Administration (3:3:0,O)

  This course provides an overview of the physical, psychosocial, cognitive, cultural, and environmental factors that affect a person as they age. Topics include financial and administrative issues that affect patient services, adaptive equipment, assistive technology, and community resources. Also present is an analysis and application of regulatory requirements of certified and licensed long term care facilites.

• HPHA 5326 Healthcare Decision Sciences & Business Analysis (3:6:0,O)

  This course emphasizes data management and analytic skills and knowledge to support healthcare organizations in improving patient safety, quality, population health and business/marketing stratgies. Topics include master data management principles, advanced analytics, electronic clinical quality measures, pay for performance, process control charts and fundamentals of quality improvement science. Students will develop skills in team-based projects to manage and analyze healthcare data to support improvement strategies.

• HPHA 5330 Health Informatics & Data Analytics (3:6:0,O)

  This course will introduce the student to the uses of information technology and data analytics as they apply to healthcare, including the basic structure and function of computers, information retrieval, electronic health records, physician order entry, telemedicine, consumer health informatics, security, privacy, and confidentiality in the electronic environment, HIPAA regulations, ethics, computerized medical imaging, decision support, and the use of data analytics in healthcare. The course will provide the student with the fundamental knowledge necessary to practice within the modern healthcare environment and communicate with information technology (IT) personnel.